The first one is excluding explicitly those points where the derivative changes a lot in a small interval. The problem here is that "a lot" and "small" are not defined clearly in my textbook.
Please note that Exclusions -> doesn't accept inequalities (well, it does, but only as an AND clause for equalities)

I tried a few things, including PlotPoints-> and MaxRecursion-> to no avail.
For example RegionFunction[] gives disappointing results and has the same drawbacks (I know this can be fixed, but the drawbacks remain):

After a conversation with @Rojo about this, we (he) came up to the following interesting conclusion: Plot[] detects exclusions only when it can manipulate the functions symbolically. Just look at this:

Anyway, for clarity: you want a routine that automagically detects jump discontinuities, or is it kosher for the user to tell the routine where to cut up the plot?
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Guess who it is.♦Jul 22 '12 at 2:49

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